Elementary Education
Elementary education is the first stage of formal education. It consists of Elementary Preparatory, Elementary Grade 1 and Elementary Grade 2 in the language of the child's community. These three years of education prepare a child for entry into primary school at Grade 3.
Management
Elementary schools are organized around the primary schools that will accept their children into Grade 3. These are known as clusters of schools. The community through an established Board of Management is responsible for the construction, maintenance and management of school buildings. School subsidies are provided to all elementary schools in the province. The present system of subsidies per capita benefits the large schools in the urban centres because of their greater buying power and low transport costs.
Quality
A mixed mode teacher training programme has been designed and implemented. This programme leads to the Certificate in Elementary Teaching awarded by Papua New Guinea Education Institute. The three year programme has three components, namely Trainer Directed Training, Self Instructional Units and Supervised Teaching. A total of four elementary trainers have been trained, and awarded a Certificate of Elementary Teacher Training from Papua New Guinea Education Institute. They deliver training programmes at the provincial level.
Primary Education
Primary education begins at Grade 3 and finishes at Grade 8 for the 9 to 14-year age group. Lower primary education comprises Grades 3 to 5, and upper primary Grades 6 to 8.
Management
In general, management at the school level is satisfactory, but there are rooms for improvement. The communities, via their respective Boards of Management keep an inventory of school assets and stock. Financial management is generally sound. Many Boards of Management contribute well towards the construction and maintenance of school classrooms, teachers' houses and other school facilities. While this is so, much remains to be done to provide the support required to ensure that the general well-being and welfare of teachers are maintained.
Every six year old child enters the Elementary Preparatory Grade and completes three years of basic relevant education.
Elementary schools will be established in the twelve Local-level Government areas so that all children in Manus will enrol at the age of six years. All children attending elementary schools will be fluent in the local vernacular or any other language used. They will be competent in basic literacy, numeracy and writing skills.
Sufficient primary school classes established to achieve access and retention targets.
Grade 1 and 2 classes have been phased out of primary schools in 2005. Facilities that were available will be used to accommodate the newly established Grade 7 and 8 classes. All children completing Grade 6 will be given the opportunity to enter Grade 7.
The lower and upper primary curriculum have both been reformed, distributed and are being implemented in schools, although it would be ideal if teachers are in-serviced on the use of these materials. Self-paced in-service units give teachers the background knowledge and strategies to support them to teach the new syllabuses.The reform curriculum is inclusive and has taken account of gender policy.